At the end of August, the Toledo Waterways Initiative (TWI) Program completed construction on its final project, the Downtown Storage Basin, marking the end of the construction phase for the entire TWI program.

The Downtown Storage Basin project included the construction of an underground 17-million-gallon capacity CSO storage basin. With this facility now operating, combined sewer overflows to the Maumee River will be further reduced, resulting in improved public health and recreation.

Since the start of the program in 2002, TWI has completed 45 separate projects encompassing 48 square miles at a total cost of $529.65 million. This accomplishment means an estimated 650 million gallons of untreated sewage will be eliminated from our waterways on an annual basis, improving the quality of our rivers and streams. This is a major milestone, and it could not have been reached without the help from partners, community members and government officials.

At the conclusion of construction and upon U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) agreement, the Compliance Phase of the program begins. Post-construction compliance monitoring is the final step in the TWI Program. The City of Toledo initiated a 12-month program to collect real data from all the facilities functioning within the TWI program on April 1, 2022. This data will be evaluated and submitted to the USEPA to determine if the City has met all of its Consent Decree requirements at the conclusion of the monitoring effort and other related modeling and reporting activities.

The TWI project team thanks all those who contributed their time, resources, and support that helped make the TWI program a success.